This Thanksgiving was one I will never forget. My husband took me to the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, a popular racetrack for cars in Bowmanville, Ontario, where his friend was practicing on the smaller track. First of all let me just say, I love cars and I kind of consider myself a car expert and a speed demon. The number one thing on my bucket list is to drive on the Autobahn in Germany. It’s one of the only highways that doesn’t have a posted speed limit. Can you say a speed demon’s heaven?

When I got to the racetrack, all I did was walk around the parking lot and stare at the lineup of cars that were on deck to go on the track. Looking at the modified and souped-up cars, and supercharged engines, I could not believe the amount of money put into preparing these cars for the track. These are not your typical NASCAR and Formula 1 racecars; these cars are family sedans and hatchbacks that have been changed to be faster and smoother on the racetrack.

The amount of upgrades needed to maneuver these cars without any issues on the track is unbelievable. You need performance racing tires, stronger, more powerful engines and bigger brakes and rooters specific to racing. I even noticed some drivers had completely gutted the interior of their cars, removing the backseats and emptying out the trunk, to make their cars lighter and speedier on the racetrack. Imagine spending thousands of dollars on your car to have it handle better around curves going at up to 150km/h!

I’ve done my share of driving at fast speeds on Highway 401, as many of us are guilty of doing, but I’ve never considered the skills it takes to drive a car around a sharp bend at higher speed than I’ve driven at before (mainly due to the fear of getting a ticket rather than actually going fast). I’ve learnt that racing is not only about driving really fast – it’s about handling your car, knowing how far you can push it and how comfortable you are behind the wheel. Now think of yourself behind the wheel of a powerhouse hurtling towards a hairpin turn at 150km/h. If you don’t have a handle on you car, you’re definitely going to spin out.

As I was watching the first round of cars going at it on the racetrack, I noticed how well the drivers were controlling their cars, but I’ll admit I did get a little nervous at how fast they were driving. All I was hearing was the sound of tires squealing against the asphalt as drivers maneuvered round sharp turns, engines roaring as the cars were revving up on straightaways and the whistles of the turbochargers kicking in. The smell of burning rubber and gasoline in the air would have given me a headache if I wasn’t so amazed by all the cars around me.

When it was our turn to give it a go, I was still nervous but so excited that I was finally going to see how it felt to be on a racetrack. I buckled in and braced myself for the acceleration, knowing I’d be going zero to really fast, about 0-100km/h, in a short amount of time. As we took off my stomach felt like it was up in my throat. As we made our way around the 2.88 km track, picking up speed on straightaways and slowing a little on turns all I could think was how awesome this is and how amazing it would feel to be behind the wheel.

The first few laps I had a pretty strong grip on the seat, but as we were getting more laps in I settled into being comfortable and started enjoying the ride. At one point our car spun out because we took a turn too fast for the car to handle and we ended up on a grassy patch – I can honestly say my heart rate jumped a couple beats – but my driver got control and we were off again!

I enjoyed myself so much that once the race was over I wanted to go again, and I got another chance to! The second time around I was more comfortable and was able to take a couple minutes of a shaky video of our race.

It was an opportunity of a lifetime and I know that if I ever have the financial means to, I will definitely take another go at a racetrack (this time behind the wheel of my own car)!